Christopher Dorner–Not the REAL Bad Guy

Yes, you read that right. But before you dismiss or despise me, at least read my argument—it is an important one.

Christopher Dorner claimed in his Manifesto that the Los Angeles Police Department has only gotten worse since the days of Rodney King. He said he was fired from the LAPD for reporting his partner after the cop kicked a mentally ill individual three times in the chest and face during an arrest, which Dorner reported as Excessive Force. Given the well-known brutality and thugishness of police in general and the LAPD in particular, this is a highly believable claim. If Rodney King and countless other examples have taught us anything, it’s that cops protect their own, and Dorner broke that golden rule by reporting his fellow officer.

To be honest, in the last couple weeks I’ve been far more scared of the police than of Dorner; in Torrance, LAPD officers opened fire on a vehicle without warning and without identifying themselves—it turned out to be a 71-year-old Hispanic woman (who was shot in the back, but thankfully survived) and her daughter, delivering newspapers. Another vehicle in the area was also fired upon, also a case of “mistaken identity,” as the police called it.

There has been a huge element of shock and utter disbelief at Dorner’s thoughts and actions of the past couple weeks. A “rampaging madman” who captivated the nation’s attention. Yet Christopher Dorner is no surprise whatsoever to me. What I’m really surprised by is that he didn’t kill more people. With all his police and military training (he was a skilled sharpshooter), his “spree” only left three dead bodies, far, far fewer than Sandy Hook (28 dead) or the Aurora movie theater shooting (12 dead). And the sad difference is that at least Dorner was trying to ruin the lives of those he saw as deserving of this violence.

So no, Christopher Dorner is neither a surprise nor the real enemy. The enemy is, in part, the U.S. military, which trains people how best to murder other human beings and countenances collateral damage (a concept, by the way, that Timothy McVeigh said he learned from the military, so how could they rightfully condemn him?). The enemy is, in part, our society of violence and repression in the form of armed thugs who literally get away with murder—namely, police officers. Ultimately, at the heart of everything, the enemy is INDUSTRIAL CIVILIZATION, which literally drives people insane. Slaving our lives away at meaningless, unfulfilling jobs we despise. Knowing those in power don’t give a fuck about our health or welfare. Having to pay money just to exist on the planet (i.e. rent and food). Forced to breathe and eat and drink poisons in our air, food and water. Seeing our loved ones and ourselves become sick and debilitated and dead from the toxic environment and dangerous workplaces. Being removed from anything resembling a natural human existence, out of touch and out of harmony with natural communities, with the planet that gives us life. Watching the natural world being murdered, along with countless innocent people—sorry, unfortunate casualties of collateral damage. No WONDER people lose their shit and go on killing sprees! I’m shocked it doesn’t happen even more often than it already does in this sick, gun-crazy, violent country filled with zombified drones.

If we want to prevent things like Dorner’s killings and Sandy Hook and Aurora and Virginia Tech, etcetera ad infinitum, the answer is simple: We have to destroy the diseased culture that directly, manifestly (if your eyes are open and your brain works semi-well) produces such monstrous occurrences. We have to dismantle industrial civilization before it finishes killing off the majority of life on our only planet. It is a moral imperative if we care about nonhuman animals, it is a moral imperative if we care about children, it is a moral imperative if we care about ourselves. Christopher Dorner and those who have done similar things are not a disease—they are mere symptoms of one.

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10 thoughts on “Christopher Dorner–Not the REAL Bad Guy”

This is a really interesting post. The story of Dorner perplexed me as it happened. An earlier commenter mentioned how mass shootings are a pretty uniquely American characteristic, so it is hard to label them a symptom of the collective insanity that societies fall into as a result of industrial civilization (IC). I imagine they (“N”) might make the point that while other European societies, and many others around the world, are “industrially civilized”, they have virtually no mass shootings by comparison with the US. The problem could still be IC however. At the risk of opening a can of worms, one need only remember how much looser gun control laws are in the US. Then if you mix the availability of firearms with a vast social sickness, you can still trace shootings like this back to the onset of IC. Wasn’t Jack the Ripper, reportedly history’s first serial killer, a man living in the heart of industrial civilization (the british empire) just as the effects of the industrial revolution were settling into british society (the late 19th century)? Again, very interesting post. Keep it up.

Very well written, Jan. (No surprise there!) I’ve been out of town for a couple of days and away from my computer and haven’t been following this closely. Glad to read an interpretation from someone whose instincts I trust.

It’s not so much industrial civilization itself persay, considering this type of thing only happens in ‘Murica. This type of outburst, seems to be uniquely American, with a few exceptions in other countries here and there. I believe it’s more the fault of an extremely capitalist society and competitive society- we breed people that “crack” and are fed up w/ the system that continues to belittle intelligence and rewards incompetence, despite telling us that the american dream will reward hard-workers and turn us all into kings.

“Dorner was trying to ruin the lives of those he saw as deserving of this violence.”.

Is he a symptom of a disease(a corrupt system)? I absolutely belief so but he IS a bad guy. He killed two people that had nothing to do with what happened to him. So as much as I belief he may have seen and suffered injustices to label him as “not the bad guy”, is just wrong. Murder of innocent people is never justified. NEVER!!!

I understand that and I guess my issue is more your choice of words for the title of this post. I would have worded the title, “Christopher Dorner–Not the ONLY Bad Guy”. I think this distinction is important because I have heard many people explain how Dorner’s action were justified and titles like this one add fuel to that fire.